Gardening
By Rhina P. Espaillat
My hands are in the dirt, ten fingernails
black with it, and half-worms come up to writhe
in the hole Ive made with a rusty trowel.
I nudge them out, drop them where shade is deeper
and moister: Nothing to be alarmed about, 5
I tell them. Theres enough dirt for us all.
Roots from our neighbors greedy birch, caught on
the wrong side of the fence, drop their booty
of damp clumps from black sweaty little fists.
I pat them back under, dig a new hole. 10
If I dont see you I dont know youre there,
I tell them. Do as much for me someday.
With my hands in this dirt Im on good terms
with everything but weeds, polite even
with them: Sorry, I tell the creamy fuzz 15
bursting from the dandelions pursed lip,
Nothing personal, youre just out of place.
And I pry it loose like a bad habit.
Any dirt at all will lead you into
every grave you can think of, with a stick 20
long enough and time enough for digging.
I reach down deep for my mothers mother,
show her tomato buds, stroke her to sleep
promising her, at least, enough to eat.
And listen, my fathers mothermidwife 25
and singer of poems, that champion laugher
whose fat roses scented my early days
under my nails, wherever I dig, still
laughing. I tell her I sing roses too,
my hands in dirt where she lives forever. 30
Instructions
Answer the following exam question and support your interpretation with evidence gained from a close reading of the text. Make sure to identify and analyze the authors use of literary devices.
Your final exam should be a multi-paragraph essay that follows the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, as well as MLA in-text citation rules for the quotation of literary works.
Exam Question
In the poem, Gardening, by Rhina P. Espaillat, the speaker discovers many things while digging in dirt. What are some of the meanings of gardening for the speaker? In your conclusion, connect this poem to at least one other text you have read this semester.
The Poem I read this semester that I would connect to this one is “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
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